Bill Knott’s GraceNotes: THE CONFIDENCE OF GOD (April 16, 2021)

2021-04-15

It isn’t difficult to disappoint. Expectations crowd around us. We’re reminded by sly colleagues of why we didn’t get the job; why our résumé is lacking; why no one trusts us with the ball. We rarely measure up to super-charged young climbers on the ladder of success, or those who spend long afternoons perfecting three-point shots. Our mere mortality gets glares from those whose motto is Olympic: Faster; Higher; Stronger. Only winners need apply.

It isn’t difficult to disappoint.

Expectations crowd around us. We’re reminded by sly colleagues of why we didn’t get the job; why our résumé is lacking; why no one trusts us with the ball. We rarely measure up to super-charged young climbers on the ladder of success, or those who spend long afternoons perfecting three-point shots.

Our mere mortality gets glares from those whose motto is Olympic: Faster; Higher; Stronger. Only winners need apply.

And often, on our poorer days, we wrongly think that God is disappointed with us too. In our imaginations, He stands for all who ever called us slow, or slack, or sinful.

In this, we always read Him wrong, for He has made His deep affection clear: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19). “God showed His love to us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

We can’t hear these words too often. Grace never disappoints; does not withdraw; does not let go. Even when we get it wrong, we are the ones God always loves.

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

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